A Missouri judge has ordered for-profit healthcare giant HCA to pony up $162 million they were supposed to invest in community hospitals. That’s according to an expose in yesterday’s New York Times.
HCA bought a dozen ailing community hospitals in Kansas City, and promised to spend $300 million to renovate them. Instead, they only spent $50 million — and pocketed the rest as profits.
The judge also found that the for-profit firm cut charity care for inner-city hospitals. The Times reports: “HCA’s reports to the foundation also indicated that the level of charitable care it provided at the system’s large inner-city hospital had fallen while charitable care provided at the more affluent suburban hospital had risen sharply, Mr. Flaherty said.”
Governor Cuomo wants to let for-profit hospitals operate in New York — starting with pilot programs in Brooklyn and an unnamed upstate area. Will that be good for New York patients?
Read the article HERE and decide for yourself.